Friends and Foe

On a crisp sunny January Sunday morning, (or a continuation of Saturday evening depending on who you ask), 30 of Imperial’s finest, the IC and RSM teams, faced-off at Harlington Sports Ground for an epic Mixed hockey match and a half time boat race. The two components of the match up are fiercely contested allowing both teams to show off their strengths!

We had a slightly late start as we needed to allow time for the force of the RSM to lower their blood alcohol levels, then commenced a match of epic proportions. Thumbs were caught in pockets, guys were slide tackling girls, sticks made contact with opposition’s heads; these are just a few examples of the mayhem that proceeded to take place. With trigger-happy umpires, one would think that the players would take a more serious tone to the match, but the spirit of mixed hockey won through with the casual disregard of general hockey rules and nonchalant attitude. This was a fun match but there was certainly a fighting attitude from both sides as can only be expected from highly competitive Imperial students!

The first half began with both teams well-matched, and plenty of attempts on goal coming from both sides. After a bit of a tussle, Rooster managed to net the first goal of the match for IC. This gained a slight momentum shift for IC as another one. This time pressure from IC resulted in a RSM own goal by the surprisingly fully clothed Matt Webb! This was unlucky but he is now the RSM mixed top goal scorer. This led to a 2-0 advantage for IC at the end of the first half.

Then came the opportunity for RSM to show that though they were losing the hockey match, their more experienced social life gave them an advantage for the half-time entertainment: the boat race. Unfortunately IC already started with a disadvantage due to their choice of beverage. Though IC valiantly tried their best, RSM won the race almost a whole person ahead with fire in their bellies and having rehydrated the RSM started the second half with renewed confidence.

Unfortunately despite a valiant effort a dramatic comeback was not on the cards for RSM. Matt Webb put his body on the line to save a goal (this is sadly against the rules of hockey) so a penalty flick was awarded against the RSM crushing their hopes of a comeback. The flick was successfully converted by Banana Split (Harriet Stevenson). A win was cemented with the final goal of the match by Flexi Vadge. Therefore the final score was four goals for IC to one boat race win to RSM.